Who should be The Justice League villain(s)?

[iGiFF]

I figured I would open up this thread since I have not seen anything about who should be the villain or villains in a Justice League movie. Lex Luthor and Brainiac could maybe work. I would want Lex only so an already established villain could be in the mix as well and then Brainiac can be the real threat.

 

[DrCosmic]

You want to have a threat that would believably require everyone on their best day. There's no reason to have a JLA movie if they're only going to be half as effective as they were in their solo movies.

You need an alien invasion. It needs to run like a disaster movie, except there's people this time to save the day. You also need enough emotional points to make it LOTR-like as far as tension. I say use Despero leading the White Martians while employing Starro as their secret weapon. It all has the 'alien mind control' theme, which is sufficient for creating the infighting necessary to answer the 'who would win' questions.

There's just no way something earth-based is going to believably challenge Superman AND Batman AND Wonder Woman AND Green Lantern AND Flash.

 

[Airwings]

It doesn't HAVE to be anything from outer space. It can be a disaster movie about volcanoes, or tsuamies, or earth quakes. Something of a larger scale that requires all the league.

But if we talk only villains, then a gathering of bad guys in the same way as JL is a gathering of heroes. It can work if written as a good story. Imagine Bizarro, Mad Hatter, Black Manta, Krona, Gorilla Grodd etc working together.

 

[Lily Adler]

Maxwell Lord.

Then again I've always preferred a human antagonist. You get a sense of irony that a human being is enough of a threat to bring the world's greatest heroes together.

 

[DrCosmic]

When you do natural disasters you kinda get that "Why aren't they punching something?" SR effect.

Gathering on two sides takes a lot of screen time, and I don't think you can have a seven person league and a seven person Injustice Gang in a two hour movie. No matter how well you write, it just takes time that you don't have, especially if you're trying to have them assembled by the second act so you can get into the actual story. The audience will get tired of the next new character when they liked the character you introduced 25 minutes ago that you cant' get back to yet because you have still more people to introduce. Every group you see that's large will go against 1-2 antagonists because that's all a movie has time for. X-Men manages five on five, usually, think about how thin and useless and expendable Storm, Toad, Cyclops and Sabertooth were. That's what you're asking for when you want two big gatherings.

Max Lord would have some irony, and the OMACs make for a very nice action pieces. And it tones down the suspension of disbelief factor. That said, it makes Martian Manhunter a bit obtuse, maybe even redundant if he doesn't spin out of the storyline.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Darksied

 

[Changeling]

Yeah lord is probably the best way to go... I say a 5 or6 man team tops. No Green Lantern, replace him with either Static Shock or Black Lightning. Other people on team would be Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Barry Allen Flash, and MAYBE Aquaman

 

[mr jinx]

I dont think a team of villains is a good idea. Too many characters. But it is about time for Darkseids film debut.

 

[Lily Adler]

Max Lord would have some irony, and the OMACs make for a very nice action pieces. And it tones down the suspension of disbelief factor. That said, it makes Martian Manhunter a bit obtuse, maybe even redundant if he doesn't spin out of the storyline.

Not if you use Cyborg! :shot:

Darksied

I like Darkseid but I'm not too thrilled with the prospect of him being in a JLA movie.

Plus, Ed Asner is too old to play a live-action Granny Goodness.

 

[DrCosmic]

Not if you use Cyborg! :shot:

And that would allow you to use the Hal Jordan Flash. Good call. Save the alien invasion for the sequel.

Darkseid is too big for a single film, like Sauron, he needs a trilogy, and unfortunately, he doesn't have very interesting underlings (Ed As, er, Granny Goodness aside). That said, the Uruk'hai and Nazghul weren't much to write home about either...

 

[Changeling]

I ****ing love Green Lantern and would love to see him in a JL movie if his solo film wasn't complete trash. Which it was. I think a good substitute for him would also be Cyborg.

 

[November Rain]

braniac

maybe the manhunters.

definitely not a worldly threat

 

[Changeling]

braniac

maybe the manhunters.

definitely not a worldly threat

Id rather save Brainiac for a solo Superman film.

If you don't want a "worldly threat" then honestly Darkseid would be the way to go

 

[November Rain]

i'd put darkseid in a solo movie personally as well

 

[mjdiddy1]

I'm thinking maybe Eclipso, Prometheus, Starro, Darkseid, Vandal Savage, Ultra-Humanite, Despero, and/or Professor Ivo w/ Amazo. Also they can build to an Injustice League or Legion of Doom type deal like Marvel but in reverse. At the end of DC films have Lex recruiting his on League to tear down the Justice League consisting of Lex (Superman), Captain Cold (Flash), Bane or Grundy (Batman), Sinestro (GL), Circe or Cheeta (WW), Black Manta (Aquaman), and the Human Flame (MM). Of course all these guys wouldn't be seen at the end of movies being recruited but it could work and generate some buzz if you do at the end of say Superman, Flash and a possible WW film.

 

[Obsidian Idea]

You want to have a threat that would believably require everyone on their best day. There's no reason to have a JLA movie if they're only going to be half as effective as they were in their solo movies.

You need an alien invasion. It needs to run like a disaster movie, except there's people this time to save the day. You also need enough emotional points to make it LOTR-like as far as tension. I say use Despero leading the White Martians while employing Starro as their secret weapon. It all has the 'alien mind control' theme, which is sufficient for creating the infighting necessary to answer the 'who would win' questions.

There's just no way something earth-based is going to believably challenge Superman AND Batman AND Wonder Woman AND Green Lantern AND Flash.

Yeah...this idea here...yeah....

 

[Jake Cassidy]

You want to have a threat that would believably require everyone on their best day. There's no reason to have a JLA movie if they're only going to be half as effective as they were in their solo movies.

You need an alien invasion. It needs to run like a disaster movie, except there's people this time to save the day. You also need enough emotional points to make it LOTR-like as far as tension. I say use Despero leading the White Martians while employing Starro as their secret weapon. It all has the 'alien mind control' theme, which is sufficient for creating the infighting necessary to answer the 'who would win' questions.

There's just no way something earth-based is going to believably challenge Superman AND Batman AND Wonder Woman AND Green Lantern AND Flash.

Great idea.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I talked before about how Johns and Lee might be tempted to craft their opening arc on the new Justice League comic launching in September - depicting the new origin of the team - as a template for a potential movie. And they're using Darkseid as the villain in that arc.

I think he would be a good choice for a film villain. You could argue that he's too big a threat to possibly cover over the course of a single film, but he's one of DC's greatest villains, and I think it would be a shame if he didn't get his chance at movie glory. And since Kirby's Fourth World is unlikely to be adapted for the cinemas any time soon, a Justice League movie might be our best chance at seeing Darkseid on the big screen.

Also, I'm not a fan of the whole "Let's save the good stuff for the sequel" approach. You might not get a sequel! Go all out and do all you want to do in the film you've got, making it as full and rewarding a filmgoing experience as you can. And if you get a sequel, THEN think about how you're going to top the first film. So, for my money, if Darkseid is the massive threat you can't possibly top, throw him out there for the first film, really give us a reason for the Justice League to get together. And worrying about topping him in sequels can be a challenge for later.

 

[Changeling]

I talked before about how Johns and Lee might be tempted to craft their opening arc on the new Justice League comic launching in September - depicting the new origin of the team - as a template for a potential movie. And they're using Darkseid as the villain in that arc.

I think he would be a good choice for a film villain. You could argue that he's too big a threat to possibly cover over the course of a single film, but he's one of DC's greatest villains, and I think it would be a shame if he didn't get his chance at movie glory. And since Kirby's Fourth World is unlikely to be adapted for the cinemas any time soon, a Justice League movie might be our best chance at seeing Darkseid on the big screen.

Also, I'm not a fan of the whole "Let's save the good stuff for the sequel" approach. You might not get a sequel! Go all out and do all you want to do in the film you've got, making it as full and rewarding a filmgoing experience as you can. And if you get a sequel, THEN think about how you're going to top the first film. So, for my money, if Darkseid is the massive threat you can't possibly top, throw him out there for the first film, really give us a reason for the Justice League to get together. And worrying about topping him in sequels can be a challenge for later.

Amen, and for that reason, they should've used Sinestro as a villain in the first GL film. Maybe it wouldve done better, but now well probably never get to see villain Sinestro on film.

But yeah they should for sure use Darkseid, hes really the perfect choice. Maybe don't use that many of his supporting cast but definitely keep Desaad in a Wormtongue-esque role.

 

[Fudgie]

Definitely Darkseid. He's the best challenge to start them off with.

 

[Kyle Rayner]

Superfriends kinda mess this up already and so did JLU, classic works from time to time. An update on the roster would be much better.

Braniac
Hush
Black Hand
Captain Cold
Adacadabra
Aries
Neron


The whole Joker/Luthor is old as molases, update it a little bit. Look at MOS it has the feeling of Superman II and Superman Returns. Luthor is overdone move on.

 

[Airwings]

Dr Cosmic: Performing heroic acts on a supernatural power level does not have to be about punching bad guys all the time.
Saving millions of people, lifting buildings and heavy rocks, moving at great speed, interfering with the unbelievable forces of nature itself... shouldn't that be grand enough if it's approached in an epic way?

And a group of villains doesn't have to take too much of the screen time. If they have all been introduced before, just as the heroes were in their solo films, then we don't need to explore each of their back stories to explain who they are.
The answer to this is by using the most well-known villains: Lex Luthor, The Riddler etc

This is how I view the matters, anyway.

They can even use both the disasters and the villain league in the same film, making it connected in some way. Maybe having a main villain as the leader of the group gathering the other bad guys, and he/she should have found a plan to kill off people by changing the climate or control storms. I am not saying the villain should have a cube of great cosmic energy like Red Skull does, there can be other ways to alter our planet. But the first disaster can be followed by a chain of others, like a butterfly effect or something.

 

[Kyle Rayner]

Dr Cosmic: Performing heroic acts on a supernatural power level does not have to be about punching bad guys all the time.
Saving millions of people, lifting buildings and heavy rocks, moving at great speed, interfering with the unbelievable forces of nature itself... shouldn't that be grand enough if it's approached in an epic way?

And a group of villains doesn't have to take too much of the screen time. If they have all been introduced before, just as the heroes were in their solo films, then we don't need to explore each of their back stories to explain who they are.
The answer to this is by using the most well-known villains: Lex Luthor, The Riddler etc

This is how I view the matters, anyway.

They can even use both the disasters and the villain league in the same film, making it connected in some way. Maybe having a main villain as the leader of the group gathering the other bad guys, and he/she should have found a plan to kill off people by changing the climate or control storms. I am not saying the villain should have a cube of great cosmic energy like Red Skull does, there can be other ways to alter our planet. But the first disaster can be followed by a chain of others, like a butterfly effect or something.

A group of villains is not the answer for such little time on screen to tell the heroes and villains story. For the JLA film maybe 5-6 heroes even though the core has always been 7, maybe the 7 could be introduced for a sequel.

For the villians you don't need the same well known guys, Ra's Al Ghul was only known in animation and comics: Batman Begins gave a whole different feel for character that was unknown other than to hardcore fans. The Villains for JLA do not have to be the same Lex Luthor mix them up, the General has always been one of my favorites, Gorilla Grood, Hush and Black Hand. Hell it can be just 2 villains, if you introduced big guys like Darkseid that's just too easy.

Villians have proven to be complicated and scarier characters in film than in pages.

 

[Godzilla2014]

I talked before about how Johns and Lee might be tempted to craft their opening arc on the new Justice League comic launching in September - depicting the new origin of the team - as a template for a potential movie. And they're using Darkseid as the villain in that arc.

I think he would be a good choice for a film villain. You could argue that he's too big a threat to possibly cover over the course of a single film, but he's one of DC's greatest villains, and I think it would be a shame if he didn't get his chance at movie glory. And since Kirby's Fourth World is unlikely to be adapted for the cinemas any time soon, a Justice League movie might be our best chance at seeing Darkseid on the big screen.

Also, I'm not a fan of the whole "Let's save the good stuff for the sequel" approach. You might not get a sequel! Go all out and do all you want to do in the film you've got, making it as full and rewarding a filmgoing experience as you can. And if you get a sequel, THEN think about how you're going to top the first film. So, for my money, if Darkseid is the massive threat you can't possibly top, throw him out there for the first film, really give us a reason for the Justice League to get together. And worrying about topping him in sequels can be a challenge for later.

I think that a balance between making the most out of each film and saving things for sequels works best. For example, I would say that Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy benefitted from not using Joker in Batman Begins, because there was a lot more time to develop him as a villain and the conflict between Batman and Joker because they had a whole film to devote to it, instead of putting both in an origin story.

Amen, and for that reason, they should've used Sinestro as a villain in the first GL film. Maybe it wouldve done better, but now well probably never get to see villain Sinestro on film.

But yeah they should for sure use Darkseid, hes really the perfect choice. Maybe don't use that many of his supporting cast but definitely keep Desaad in a Wormtongue-esque role.

I think it was fine that Sinestro wasn't the villain in Green Lantern, but a supporting character for Hal Jordan, and in a much better film, could have worked well and added depth to a sequel in which Sinestro becomes a villain.

 

[Airwings]

A group of villains is not the answer for such little time on screen to tell the heroes and villains story.

But what if we know all the villains from before? What if we already know how each of them turned out to be just the way he/she is (like why The Riddler is obsessed with riddles and question marks, an explanation for the motives of Lex etc). All that have been covered in solo films. Then we don't need screen time to explain any villain's origin, nothing that takes time away from the actual plotline and serve as a distraction.
The only things the writer and the director have to think about in this case is the reason why these certain bad guys decided to work together, and to explain that reason in a way that make it logical and believable for the story in the film.
It doesn't have to be a huge string of villains. Five is good and a perfect number. And each of them will have enough time to shine and show off his/her egocentric character.
Is even five too much? I think four is the minimum, then.

A film of this size need special treatment. 2,5 h is a little too short, it needs to get close to 3 h. Remember Titanic? It was longer than 3 hours and the story kept us interested all through the film without any actual action (the ship sinking was not action in that meaning as in "action film").

I am not saying that they SHOULD use a group of villains. It is tricky, very difficult, and needs a really good story. But they should not avoid it for all costs either. I only try to explain that it COULD be done. It is not impossible!!!
If a villains' group is written in a great way, then it will be one of the strenghts in this film. Take my word for it!!!